Mumbai man gets 1 year in jail for forcibly kissing mall salesgirl

A Borivali mall salesgirl said a man followed her towards the washroom and forcibly kissed her. A Mumbai court held the act was intentional, relied on witness evidence and sentenced him to one year in prison.

In Short

• The salesgirl said the man repeatedly asked her to show the washroom
• She alleged he returned moments later, kissed her forcefully and fell
• Bystanders noticed the commotion, restrained the accused and alerted police

A Mumbai court has sentenced a 34-year-old man to one year in prison for forcibly kissing a mall worker after allegedly following her towards a washroom and then kissing her again after they fell to the ground.

The Dindoshi Sessions Court convicted Ritesh Rajubhai Armulla, a resident of Borivali West's Borbhatpada area, for outraging the modesty of the woman by using criminal force.

The court relied on the victim's evidence, finding it convincing and saying there was no apparent reason for her to falsely implicate a man she did not know before the incident.

WOMAN WAS HEADING TO BILLING COUNTER

The woman filed a complaint on September 17 last year, saying she was working as a salesgirl at a mall in the Shimpoli area of Borivali West.

According to her complaint, she was on duty at around 6 pm when she bought a cold drink and was walking towards the billing counter.

A man wearing a pink shirt then approached her and asked for directions to the washroom. She pointed towards it, but he repeatedly asked her to show him the washroom.

She told him to go ahead, following which he walked away.

However, after some time, the man allegedly returned and suddenly kissed her forcefully. The two fell to the ground, after which he allegedly continued kissing her.

The incident drew the attention of people nearby, who caught hold of the man and called the police.

COURT FINDS VICTIM'S ACCOUNT CONVINCING

The judge examined statements from witnesses who said the accused had followed the woman towards the washroom and took advantage of the fact that she was unaware of his intentions.

According to the witnesses' accounts, he kissed her, caused her to fall and then kissed her again.

The judge said there was no reason to disbelieve the evidence.

“There is nothing to disbelieve the said evidence,” the judge said, adding that the accused's presence at the spot, along with the evidence of the witnesses, left “no room to disbelieve the evidence of both the witnesses”.

The court also rejected the possibility that the incident could have been an accidental fall followed by an unintended act.

‘NATURAL REACTION WOULD BE DIFFERENT’

The judge said that even if it were assumed that the accused had slipped and fallen on the woman, his subsequent conduct could not be explained as an accident.

“Even for the sake of argument, it is considered that if a person slipped and fell on another person, natural reaction would be different rather than the person kissing the person on whom he fell,” the judge said.

The court found that the sequence of events showed that the accused had acted intentionally and knowingly.

The judge said the accused first kissed the complainant, fell her down and then kissed her again, describing the conduct as “nothing but an act of outraging the modesty by using criminal force”.

The court subsequently convicted Armulla and sentenced him to one year in prison.

- Ends